Feasibility study of rapid prototyping using the uniform droplet spray process

This work studied the feasibility of rapid prototyping using the Uniform Droplet Spray (UDS) process. Straight and stable liquid metal jets are crucial requirements in the application of UDS to rapid prototyping. Methods to maintain the jet straight and stable were developed. Hardware improvements include an auxiliary orifice mounting fixture and a new crucible bottom with a tightly-fitting orifice-pocket. A droplet trajectory controller, including deflection plates and a pulse provider to a charging plate, was developed to precisely deliver droplets for deposition. The degree of separation between deflected and undetected streams of droplets was modeled and the prediction was compared with experimental results. This comparison revealed that the degree of actual deflection was approximately twice as high as the predicted value. Using the trajectory controller, deposition was conducted using pure tin (Sn) with droplet impact conditions of velocity and liquid fraction of 45 m/s and 97%, respectively. The deposition frequency was varied in the experiment to study its effects on deposit shapes. A low frequency deposition at 57Hz produced a vertical pillar, whereas a high frequency deposition at 574Hz resulted in a large drop.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

1998

Author dc:creator

• Shin, Jennifer Hyunjong, 1974-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jung-Hoon Chun.

• Mechanical Engineering

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28201

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/28201